John Irving was on The Bonnie Hunt Show yesterday and I saw the episode while I was running on the treadmill at the gym. He is my favorite author, and his interview made me stay on the treadmill longer than I intended. I can't find a video of the portion of the interview where he talks about writing just yet, but in my search I came up with this one. It's a few years old, but it's short and sweet, and emphasizes how a story needs to keep moving. He says this gem about his goal with the novel: "To make the story better, more compelling, more unstoppable on page 400 than it was on page 40."
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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I love John Irving. Thanks for sharing the video find.
ReplyDeleteHe's such a great writer. Just the time he puts into crafting his stories and his confidence. He can carry a story with prose, but his prose is never flowery or clever for the sake of clever. He can carry a story with his plotting. From every side, Irving is just great!
ReplyDeleteI'm about halfway through Last Night in Twisted River, and it's great...especially for Irving fans. He slips in glimpses of his views on writing, and pokes fun at himself. It's a more suspenseful Irving novel; the early parts are like Jack London and Dickens channeled through Irving.
In many ways, it's unlike a lot of his other books, but it's definitely an Irving novel!
I'm loving it so far...
Thanks for the great feedback about Twisted River Christopher. I didn't even know he had a new book out until yesterday. I guess the press junket is getting the job done. And as a library junkie, Irving is one of the few authors I will always shell out cash for. His words are worth every penny.
ReplyDeleteGreat clip! I've never read any of his work but I like the sound of an author who is driven to make his books THAT good!
ReplyDeleteLove John Irving. He's not my favorite, but close...
ReplyDelete